The Second Best Date Ever
by Darkfire Galaxy
Summary: Sequel to Best Date Ever. Maddy and Rhydian see the sequel to the movie they saw last time. If you haven't read Best Date Ever, I'd recommend checking it out first. Hope you all enjoy.


Wolfblood

The Second Best Date Ever

 **After the positive feedback I got from the first one, I decided to attempt a sequel. I may attempt to continue my Trouble in Paradise fanfictions further than the original trilogy. If you'd like me to do that, then just remember to review. If this does well, I'll see about continuing both this and Trouble in Paradise.**

It was a blisteringly hot summer's day in Stoneybridge; and at Bradlington high, Maddy Smith cursed her luck for getting the seat right next to the window. Her boyfriend, Rhydian Morris, sat next to her. It was agony for her every day not to lean sideways and go to sleep on his shoulder in Jefferies' lectures, but even more so today as she knew it would do nothing towards cooling either of them down. They still sat as close together as possible and still had their hands firmly clasped together, despite the sweat that literally dripped off them and onto the floor, as it was with everyone else in the class.

"And that is how the legend of the werewolf came to be." Mr Jefferies concluded. "Just out of interest, 'Shadow Pack 2' is in cinemas starting today for the next two weeks. Hands up anyone else who's planning to go and see it." Several faces in the class went pale. The first Shadow Pack movie was the last one Maddy and Rhydian had gone to see. Werewolf movies were usually just an excuse for them to cuddle up together in a darkened room and laugh at people getting scared witless and losing their popcorn out of sheer fright, (both before and after it had been eaten.) But the ending to Shadow Pack had been different. Rhydian had been genuinely terrified and even Maddy had jumped a bit. It was the first movie they'd seen that included werewolves and actually had potential to scare them. Suddenly, Rhydian's hand shot up in the air.

"I'm thinking about it, sir."

"Only one of you is going?" Jefferies surveyed the room to see only Rhydian's hand up. Even Jimi was fixing Rhydian with a look of admiration.

"I'm going too." Maddy said, raising her hand slowly.

"Well, it's good to see we have at least two brave people in the class." Just then, the bell rang and signalled the end of the school day. Whether it was the mention of the new Shadow Pack movie, the tedious dullness of the lecture or the fact it was a flawless day outside that caused the class to storm the doorway like their lives depended on it was unknown. All Maddy and Rhydian knew was that they were better off staying in their seats for a few more seconds. As Maddy turned to talk to Rhydian, something caught his eye.

"Maddy, have you got sunburn directly down one half of your face?" It was true. The amplified sunlight through the window had burnt Maddy's face directly down the centre. It was only mild, but it was definitely there. As the last pupil managed to wrestle her way out the door, Rhydian and Maddy got up to head home without a fuss. "Come on; let's get you home to Emma. She'll know what to do about that." Maddy took Rhydian's hand as they left the classroom. They were walking towards the rip in the fence when Maddy spoke up.

"How are you going to that movie? I thought Mrs Vaughn grounded you until you were one-hundred and three?"

"Does she really need to know?" Rhydian asked. "I'll pick you up at five-thirty."

"That's fine, but just remember that it's my turn to pay for the tickets and your turn to pay for food." Maddy reminded him.

"I won't forget." Rhydian muttered. By this point, they'd broken into a run. The two of them were about halfway through the woods and were on course to arrive in Maddy's back garden before Mrs Vaughn even knew Rhydian hadn't gone straight home. Sure enough, they jumped Maddy's back fence and had a whole two minutes spare to start making out before Rhydian had to start running home. Maddy pushed him against the tree so that she could get as close to him as possible. As there lips met, a sensation washed over Rhydian that felt a thousand times more amazing than Eolas. He tightened his grip on her and placed one hand on the back of her head to deepen the kiss. They broke contact for a second, and he slumped down against the tree so that she could sit on his lap. Once again, Maddy's lips found Rhydian's as she sat straddling him. They leaned their foreheads together as their breathing levelled out.

"God, I love you." Maddy murmured.

"I love you too." Rhydian said as he moved to stand up. "I need to go now. See you at five-thirty."

"See you then." Maddy said as she went to head inside. In a split second, Rhydian had jumped the fence and was running towards the Vaughns house. They only lived just around the corner, so it wasn't a far run. As soon as he walked through the door, he made a beeline to go upstairs and draw to pass the time, but Mrs Vaughn was too quick.

"Hold it right there!" Rhydian stopped, visibly flinching. That tone meant that she now had something to connect him to seeing Maddy outside of school that he would have to come up with a really convincing explanation for.

"Is something the matter?" Rhydian asked rhetorically.

"What the hell happened to the back of your school shirt?" Mrs Vaughn ran a hand over the shredded material covering Rhydian's back. In a flash, Rhydian realized that when he slumped against the tree, it must have ripped his shirt.

"I fell out the tree at school." Rhydian lied. "I must have shredded it then."

"Was Maddy cheering you on?" Mrs Vaughn's expression told Rhydian that she wasn't going to let this go.

"She was downloading photos in the darkroom." Rhydian told her. "She was nowhere near me. I joined her after when I found out the room had air conditioning."

"Go upstairs, get changed and give me that rag so that I can see if it's salvageable." Mrs Vaughn muttered. Rhydian raced upstairs and quickly changed into something he could move more easily in. Eventually, he settled on a pair of jeans and a t-shirt. He threw his school shirt onto the landing and flopped onto his bed, grabbing his sketch pad as he went. For the next thirty minutes, he let his pencil glide over the paper as he outlined the muzzle of the second wolf. The two wolves were standing together with their muzzles touching as they licked each other's faces. Just then, Joe raced in without knocking and tackled Rhydian, trying to tickle him as Rhydian held him at arm's length.

"You're covered in mud!" Rhydian shrieked, not wanting the hassle of changing his bed sheets.

"We had football today." Joe said. As he made a move to tickle Rhydian again, the sketch pad caught his eye. "You miss Maddy, don't you?"

"What gave you that idea?" Dread filled Rhydian's heart. If Joe had guessed it from a sketch, how long would Mrs Vaughn take to realise?

"The shade of brown you've coloured the smaller wolf in is the exact same shade as her hair." Joe pointed out. "Also, the way the smaller wolf's nose dips and the way their front legs cross forms a heart shape, and we all know you love Maddy more than you can say. You miss her."

"I just miss not being able to see her any time I like." Rhydian admitted, flopping back on his bed.

"If you want, I can have a word with Mum." Joe offered as he flopped next to him. "There's only a fifty-fifty chance she'll bite my head off." Rhydian had to chuckle at that.

"Mrs Vaughn won't bite your head off." Rhydian assured him. "I'm more likely to do that because you've got mud all over my bed sheets!" Rhydian let out a fake roar as Joe jumped up and ran out of the room. Rhydian chased him as far as the door before walking back to his bed and inspecting the damage. Luckily, none of the mud was wet. The grass on the pitch had clearly been watered just before the match, but it had dried onto Joe after it got stuck to him. It would be easy enough to brush it off. As soon as Rhydian had got rid of the mud, he looked up at his clock to find that it was nearly time to go and meet Maddy.

Line Break!

Rhydian ran through the woods and arrived at Maddy's house quicker than he ever had before. His heart was thudding at the prospect of seeing her outside of school since the first Shadow Pack movie. On the way over, he'd looked up details of the movie. It featured a different cast of humans than before, but the alpha from the first movie still ruled the roost for the werewolves. Maddy answered the door, looking more radiant than ever. The sunburn on one half of her face was nearly gone and she was in a very thin t-shirt and some jeans. Even at this time of day, the sun was blistering. They walked together hand in hand until they reached the cinema, choosing to stay on the side of the pavement that was largely in shadow from the trees on the edge of the woods. Neither would admit it, but it didn't help much. The intense heat was hampered very little by the absence of sunlight. The forty-five minute walk to the cinema was hell on earth, but they finally made it into the air-conditioned paradise. They both got their tickets and drinks before finding their seats. As they entered the theatre, they noticed Mr Jefferies sitting in the front row trying to hook his arm around Doctor Whitewood. Suppressing chuckles, they sat a few rows from the back as usual to get a good view of most of the theatre.

"This is going to be great." Maddy whispered as the room darkened and everyone went quiet.

"I know. These guys are going to crap themselves." Rhydian replied. They leaned their heads together as the movie began. Typically, the movie started in the dead of night. Two police officers were patrolling a road that looked like something out of Eastenders. The graffiti on the walls and syringes on the pavement completed the picture.

"So then after about two hours they were so covered in mud, I couldn't tell either of them apart."

"God, Mike; we really need to get a new shift. It's freezing out here!" the other officer complained.

"They should be so lucky." Rhydian whispered to Maddy.

"You said it, Terry." Mike replied. I mean there's very little to distract you from weather this cold." Just then, his head whipped to the side. "What the hell was that noise?"

"I didn't hear anything." Terry said, dismissing it with a flick of his hand. "Come on. The quicker we lap this block, the quicker we can get down the pub." But Mike ignored him and flicked his baton open.

"Come on out! I heard you in there!" Mike crept closer and closer to the alley he'd heard the noise coming from.

"Seriously Mike, stop screwing around!" Terry hissed, suddenly becoming very aware of how alone they were. Suddenly, Mike seemed to notice movement in the darkness, because he suddenly charged into the shadows with his baton raised. A split second later, a piercing scream sliced through the air. Terry hesitated for a second before training his torch on the alleyway. His torch beam reached the entrance and came face to face with a solid wall of blackness. As the torch beam panned upwards, it eventually revealed the creature's face. Maddy and Rhydian couldn't tell exactly what it was, but it certainly wasn't a werewolf. Its body was solidly built to the proportions of a puma. It was three times the size and its wolf-like face seemed to have bones on the outside that fit over its skin. As it opened its mouth and snarled, the bones around the base of its muzzle and jaw line slid back to allow the movement. The grating noise chilled everyone in the theatre to the bone. Terry could now see Mike's shattered carcass slumped against the far wall to the left. Suddenly, the creature lunged, tearing Terry's face clean off his head. The wet crunching filled the air as Terry dropped to the floor and the remaining half of his brain slid out. Suddenly, another shrill scream from in the theatre interrupted everything.

"Tim!" Doctor Whitewood screamed as she eased him out of his seat and onto the floor.

Line Break!

After the paramedics had left with Mr Jefferies on the stretcher and Doctor Whitewood running in pace with them, everyone was allowed back into the room and the movie was resumed. As Maddy and Rhydian's nerves settled, they snuggled back into each other.

"Crap; I dropped my popcorn when everyone was ordered to leave the room." Maddy hissed under her breath.

"You can have some of mine." Rhydian whispered, handing her a piece between his fingers.

"Thanks." Maddy grinned, eating it straight out of his hand.

As the movie progressed, things started getting serious. The alpha from the last movie had learned of the new creature and was getting help from the humans. Just as they were in a meeting about what this new creature actually was, it showed up and carved a new door into the wall. It smashed through the brickwork and severed the head of the woman sitting closest to the wall it smashed through. In the blink of an eye, the alpha transformed, but couldn't attack because the creature had grabbed one of the men from round the table. There was no way for the lycanthrope to fight it without risk of killing him. As though it knew it had the advantage, the creature backed off slowly. Sure enough, the alpha didn't dare advance. The bones in the creature's face shifted with the ever-chilling grinding noise as it leaned forward and let loose a roar that made one man in the movie theatre run from the room with a wet patch appearing between his legs. Even Maddy and Rhydian were shivering a bit by this point, despite the hot weather.

"I'm just going to get some more popcorn." Maddy said as she got up.

"No, I've got this." Rhydian replied, sitting her gently back down. Stepping over the old lady next to them, he went through the doors and went straight to the concessions stand. There was a different girl behind the counter, so the shifts had obviously changed over. As the girl behind the counter looked up, they both recoiled upon seeing each other.

"Rhydian, is that you? What are you doing here?"

"Jana, only the person serving the food is supposed to be behind the counter." Rhydian said.

"Oh, that's funny." Jana's voice dripped with sarcasm. "Do you think all the meat in the caravan pays for itself?"

"I hadn't really thought about it." Rhydian answered truthfully.

"Please don't tell Maddy." Jana begged. "She'd just laugh if she saw me in this uniform."

"No, she wouldn't." Rhydian said. "She'd think it was brilliant that you're doing something with yourself outside of school."

"It's brilliant here." Jana replied, her eyes shining. "The best bit is, they've got flushing toilets just like in school!" Jana's excitement was plain to see, and Rhydian had to physically restrain himself from rolling his eyes.

"Jana, every building has to have a flushing toilet. It's a legal requirement."

"So it's not that special?"

"To you, it may be. The rest of us have had all our lives to get used to it."

"I see. So that's why you were so unimpressed when I mentioned it." Jana's expression was one of immense concentration as she tried to process this. Suddenly, she stopped and shook her head slightly, as though ridding herself of the confusion in the process. "Anyway, what do you want to eat?"

"I'll have one medium popcorn please." Rhydian said.

"Do you want the salted popcorn or the sweet one?" Jana asked.

"The sweet one please." Rhydian replied. Jana filled the cup and Rhydian handed over the money.

"Enjoy the movie." Jana said as Rhydian walked back towards the doors.

"See you at school." Rhydian slipped back through the doors and found his seat again. Instantly, Maddy threw her arms around him as he sat down, almost causing him to drop the popcorn. At that moment, the creature on the screen let out a roar, circling the werewolf.

"God, this is actually scary." Maddy said.

"Have they said what that creature is yet?" Rhydian asked.

"Someone worked out that it's an Umbra." Maddy told him. "It's supposed to be a creature forged from shadow itself. It can do all sorts of things, but the one to be most afraid of is that it can…" As if on cue, the creature's body released several tendrils made of shadow. They buried into the earth around it and spread throughout the ground of what Rhydian now realised was a cemetery. Sure enough, arms and faces started to emerge from the ground. Some weren't very far gone, but others were little more than bone. Some were in good condition, whereas others had many broken bones, shards of which stuck out from their skin and made Rhydian doubt very much that they died of natural causes. Insane whispers of eternally damned souls filled the air around them as the very fabric of sanity and hope for a plotline that could potentially be salvaged from the evils of clichés seemed to disintegrate in a split second. The writhing mass of the undead surrounded the alpha, making it impossible for the lycanthrope to reach his adversary.

"Let me guess: it can do that?" Rhydian muttered, earning a punch on the arm from Maddy.

Suddenly, something flew through the air and smashed against the werewolf's back. As soon as it did, the zombies all backed off. As the holy water took effect, the zombies were being driven further and further back. As the hunter who'd thrown the bottle appeared, the man the Umbra had kidnapped managed to free himself from where he was being held in one of the crypts. The lid hit the floor just as he sprang out and charged at the Umbra. As his hand made contact, the dark material the Umbra was made of seeped rapidly into his hand. The shadowy abomination was absorbed into him, fighting to be free. As the process completed itself, the hunter threw an orb at the feet of the man. It emitted a strong ultraviolet light which trapped the Umbra in the man's body.

"Why did you do that?" the hunter asked, pity showing in his eyes. The alpha looked at the man, sorrow for him plain on his lupine features.

"I knew it couldn't resist someone as evil as me!" The man's voice was becoming a scream from the agony he was in. "I've made more mistakes than most people alive today. I've hurt many people in my life, and this is my chance to atone for it all. This is the way it has to be. Someone has to kill the host while the Umbra feeds off their dark energy. That's the only way to kill it. Do it, werewolf. Help me settle my debt to everyone I hurt." As he said this, the man's body was deteriorating. The ultraviolet light was the only thing keeping the Umbra trapped. The werewolf lunged forward and slashed clean through the man's torso. His ribs snapped like twigs as his spinal column was severed and the left ventricle of his heart was slashed, causing blood to flood his chest cavity. The shadow of the Umbra surfaced, let out a piercing scream and slowly turned to dust.

"Maddy, are you okay?" Rhydian asked as she buried her head in his chest. Though truth be told, his eyes were starting to water as well.

As the sunlight bathed the horizon after the man's body had been put to rest, the werewolf let out a howl. It sounded different than usual. Where previously it had sounded tortured by life itself, this sounded contented. It was as though the alpha was finally at peace with who he was. As the serene melody escaped his mouth, the sun shone on him, bathing his fur in golden light. As this happened, he slowly started to return to his human form. Eventually, a man knelt where the mighty lycanthrope once stood. The man looked up to face the hunter, knowing full well what was about to happen.

"Don't forget what you promised me all those years ago." The alpha knew as he said this that neither of them had really forgotten. He could smell the certainty radiating from the hunter.

"I remember it well." The hunter said as he reached for something behind his back. "You should know that you've shown more humanity today than you have in a long time. I know our parents never intended for us to end up in this situation. You'll always be my brother." With that, the hunter pulled the revolver from his back pocket and fired twice. One silver bullet pierced the alpha's heart, while the other went into his skull. He was dead before he it the floor. As the hunter picked up the shovel and once again started digging, the end credits to the movie started rolling.

Most of the audience was sobbing by this point. They'd spent two movies being scared of this creature that they'd secretly admired, cheered him on as he'd gone up against the Umbra and then just as his own brother had killed him, everyone had found out that he was probably more human at heart than they were themselves. Maddy and Rhydian were a mess as well. Tears flowed freely down their faces as they stayed locked in each other's embrace. Right now, they just needed to be next to each other.

Line Break!

Maddy and Rhydian sat on the moors. The hot night air washed over them as they lay together. The events of the movie weighed heavily on both of them. While they appreciated it was only a movie, they just empathised with the alpha so strongly that it may as well have been real. Rhydian would never say it, but he knew his feelings for it ran deeper than Maddy's. Before he knew what he was, there was a time that he wished someone would come along and shoot him, so that he no longer had to bare the curse. Things were different now that he had Maddy, Tom, Shannon and Jana, but that man never had anyone. As they both contemplated this, a text arrived from Tom.

' _OMG, Jimi just posted on Facebook that Jefferies had a heart attack during Shadow Pack 2_. _Is it true_?' Maddy read it a few times before replying.

' _I don't know what it was. He certainly had some sort of episode though_.'

' _Hell yes_! _That means we're getting a substitute teacher tomorrow_. _Maybe we'll even have a slightly interesting lesson_.' Something deep within Maddy was horrified by that response.

' _Tom! How the hell can you even say that_? _He may or may not have had a heart attack and you're cheering_!'

' _Sorry. I guess I'm just evil_. _See you tomorrow Mads_.'

Maddy put her phone away with a grimace on her face. How could Tom cheer and make jokes about something so serious? Maybe she should speak to his mum?

"Let it go, Maddy." Rhydian said as he took off his hoodie and draped it over both of them. "Tom's probably seen and heard about so much of it that he's become desensitised. It's not worth losing a friend over." Maddy rolled over and snuggled up to Rhydian.

"Is your talent really art?" she asked him. "Because sometimes I wonder if you can read minds."

"No, you're just that easy to figure out." Rhydian yawned as he lay down with her and kissed the top of her head gently. At that point, neither of them cared what Mrs Vaughn or Maddy's parents thought. This was their night and they were too close to sleep to be woken now. Holding each other close, they let sleep take them together.

Line Break!

It was early next morning when hell was raised. Emma woke up to a raging phone call from Mrs Vaughn. Rhydian hadn't come home and was due in school in half an hour.

"I don't know where they are!" Emma protested. "Maddy didn't come home either last night."

"If they have any sense, they'll have eloped so that Rhydian wouldn't have to go back to that woman." Dan muttered.

"They're probably hiding so as not to be kept apart again." Emma said, ignoring Dan completely. "All they really want is to be together. Dan and I can go and search the forest if you want." A few seconds later, Emma put the phone down.

"I'll get the car keys." Dan muttered, looking up from his woodwork catalogue.

"Don't worry. I bet you anything that they're sneaking in through the upstairs window right now." Emma replied as there was a yelp and a crash from Maddy tripping over her window frame.

"Do you think they heard that?" Maddy's voice drifted down from upstairs.

"You'd best hurry up, Maddy. You've only got half an hour to be at school."

"Okay Mum." Maddy called back, sounding relieved that her mum hadn't walked up the stairs and had a yell at her.

"Did you enjoy last night?" Emma asked, moving to the bottom of the stairs. Maddy's reply said it all.

"It was the best date ever."

End!


End file.
